Mayor Sherman Guyton said the city will use a 10-year loan, approved by the council last week, to purchase the property. Because the land lies in a tax increment financing, or TIFF district, the city can use revenue from development to pay for any improvements to infrastructure in the area, he said.

This is the latest move the city has made over the past year in acquiring property on both sides of the Coosa River for redevelopment plans. In November 2013, the city bought 9.3 acres of land in East Gadsden near the Coosa River for $2.6 million in hopes of jump starting development in the area. The city is also working on a riverfront park on that bank.

Councilman Bob Echols said the city now owns almost all of the property on both sides of the river between the Memorial Bridge on Broad Street and the Interstate 759 bridge.

"Most cities would kill to have a river going right through them, from a development standpoint," Guyton said.